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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary @ Sandakan

Aloha! Have you ever been told that the monkeys in Sabah are totally different from the Peninsular. Before I came to Sandakan, my friend Wan Ying keep telling me that I should visit the monkey as I would have never seen such species before.

On one fine day, I got the chance to pay a visit to the famous tourist spot, the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary located far away from Sandakan town. Actually, not really far la, about 45 minutes but the journey was a bit 'hurting' to your car as it need to travel pass about 4 km untarred, 'rocky' and uneven road inside a palm oil plantation.

Alright , we reach at the main entrance.

The entrance fees to this Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary is RM 12. One important information that you should know before coming here is the feeding time which are scheduled at 9.30 am, 11.30 am, 2.30 pm and 4.30 pm. You can only view the Proboscis Monkey during the feeding time. So, come at correct timing!

While waiting for the feeding time, you can watch video of the sanctuary mostly on the origin of this sanctuary and of course the life story of the Proboscis monkey.

Wait, do you observe something on top right picture? Ahemm .. seem like they are making love..Shh..don't disturb them.

Alright, did you see anything? No right, which it means isn't the feeding time yet. One more thing that you should know that is every camera is chargeable at RM 10. If you want to avoid paying that money, do not show your camera at the counter and only show up during feeding time as it will be crowded and the staff won't have the time to check on you.

Introducing to you, Silver Langur (Presbytis Cristata) monkey aka the Silvered Leaf Monkey. They have the heights of range from 16-27 inches and weighing about 4 to 11 kg.

The females may give birth every 2 years with gestation period of 6.5 to 7 months. Interestingly, the coat of the newborn is yellow or orange in colour.

Taking pictures with the Silvered Leaf Monkeys.

Another one.

Introducing to you, the Oriental Small-clawed Otter which is a carnivorous aquatic or marine mammal part of the family Mustlidae. Accordingly, it was adopted when the otter seen playing with the Proboscis monkey at the shore of riverside the day before the 2004's Tsunami.

The main attraction, the Proboscis Monkey finally showed up. The staff will put the food at the designated area after which the leader among groups of the monkey will investigate and check whether it is safe to come near the feeding place. Once everything is checked, it will then called our his gang to eat. The Proboscis Monkey are by nature very cautious to human and are easily frightened away.

The above is a male Proboscis Monkey. Now, it is different from the monkeys you see at the zoo in the Peninsular. Absolutely right?

Now have a closer look of them. Proboscis Monkey have several key physical features. Firstly is their long and huge pendulous nose. Next, it's their distinctive pot belly which give a pregnant look. The third is......... come on, give some guess? Will let u know as you read on...

Like humans, these monkeys have their own gang and in each gang, they have their own leader. This sanctuary is the natural habitat for these monkeys which is not found elsewhere. It was located inside a palm oil plantation. The owner of the plantation decided not to cut down the trees as it will destroy the monkeys and their habitat. Instead, he turned this place to a sanctuary and give scheduled feeding to them. If it is not of him, we might not be seeing such rare species of monkey.

At the middle of the erected feeding platform, there is a bit pot of water for the monkeys. It is quite interesting to see how the monkeys drink the water with their long nose keep blocking them making them a bit difficult to drink.

One thing good about here is that we get to observe the characteristic of the Proboscis Monkey at its own habitat. You can take good picture with a DSLR with long zoom as the distance separating you with the feeding place of the monkey is not that far.

Alright, here I reveal the third features which are their BUTTOCKS aka backside. It seem like their are wearing a white underwear at all time! I also noticed this feature after capturing above pictures.

See San and Wei Xin are welcoming you to the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary~

Group photo~~~

After seeing the Proboscis Monkey, we went to another site situated within this plantation to have our lunch.

Don't expect something special. It was indeed nothing special local menus.

While on the way out, Chah Chah got her first chance to take picture with the palm oils (top pic) whereas me, Chah Chah and Auyn Chyi made another stop to take picture with the with cow at the background.

proboscis monkeys weren't playful but they were fun to observe. I just got back from Malaysian Borneo and wanted to introduce you to my website section devoted to Proboscis Monkeys, which includes my recent 2011 proboscis monkey photography:http://50and50by50.com/2011/06/borneo-proboscis-monkey-up-close/

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About

Enjoying making friendship, going for trips and discussing the current issues. Love to take pictures as many as possible as substitute to diary books. Believe that to enjoy life is to be happy at all times.